Economic Growth On A Small Planet

With global population about to hit 7 billion our planet is looking smaller and smaller every day. Some might say that we have long surpassed a sustainable population. What that means is that our current population is using more resources than the planet can replenish. In addition, there are some resources that will never replenish or will take millions of years to replenish. The most important of those resources – largely responsible for the rapid growth and expansion of the past century – is petroleum. Because we all have grown up in an industrialized world we think this way of life is the way it’s always going to be. However, we forget a very important ingredient that has fueled the industrial age, and then the technology age. The important ingredient I’m talking about is energy and our main source of energy, petroleum, has been cheap and abundant. What happens to our economic growth and our industries and our way of life if that energy source is no longer cheap and abundant?

I can’t say that I agree 100% on all the points in this video, but I do believe the overall message is an important one.